Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Volcano Day

Man oh man, this day was amazing. We spent the whole day on volcano activities (unless you count the time we spent tracking down spam musubi, which for the record can be found at 7-11 in Hawaii).

We started the day at Volcanos National Park, where we hiked across the crater of Kilauea and walked through a lava tube.

Yup, we walked across that.

See!?!

Andy at the mouth of a lava tube.

After a quick bite for lunch, we headed to Lava Tree State Park where we saw the remnants of trees captured in lava.

Plants in Hawaii = Badass

We heeded this warning and came back to tell the tale.

These use to be trees!

Even though the day had been amazing and chock full o' volcano, we weren't done by a long shot! The most unbelievable hike of my life was still to come. The current lava flow is all on private property, so the only ways to see it up close are to take a helicopter, a boat, or do what we did, a guided hike. I am not sure how to set the scene because it still seems so crazy to me. There are people who live in houses built on what was recently (by all measures not just geologic time) lava. It's only been a few years since a lava flow took out the neighbors of our guide. We hiked about 3 miles out over freshly created rock to a spot where lava was coming out of the earth. We did poke it with a stick but didn't take any with us (no need to tempt Pele). Then, we headed to the coast to watch earth be created. We got to sit for about an hour and just watch lava flow into the ocean until dark. Head lamps on, inspired, awed, and amazed, we trekked back in the dark to our guide's house and our cars.